Learning In Grace: 4th of July Sensory Tub

Last week was 4th of July so I also made that the theme for the week. I thought it would be fun to make a 4th of July sensory Tub. When I looked online for ideas there were not very many! So I had to just go on the fly. Here is what I came up with and I must say I was very excited and couldn't wait for the kids to check it out!

How to Dye Rice

First I made some colored rice for the base. All I did was poor some rice into a Ziploc bag and used food coloring to dye it. I don't remember how many actual drops I used . If you make it I would just start with about 5-6 drops depending on amount of rice and then just add as you go if needed. I did blue first then red. I just smashed and pushed, wiggled, dropped, plopped and shook the Ziploc bag until I got the desired color. It was quite therapeutic if you ask me :) Then when I was done I laid out some wax paper and kinda folded up the sides, then poured the rice out in a thin layer to dry (about 1hour).

After it was all dry I poured both colors together into a single bag. Then added about a cup of plain white rice in so that I would have a little Bright white in there. Its not needed because some of the rice that I colored was real light kinda giving the white effect but I wanted some bright white too, so up to you :) This is what it looked like when it was done and ready to be put in the bin.

What does one put into a 4th of July sensory bin besides a flag??? Ugh yeah, that's why I was trying to find ideas online.... but only saw one HERE which did give me a starting point. So when all else fails... I recommend a trip to the dollar tree !! I mean really it is for a 3 year old, I was not trying to get all historical, that's what my books were for, I just wanted something fun that would work for this very special week. So I went, and at first was not seeing anything at all relating to the holiday except some flags and paper.. So it was then time to get creative... Here is what I found.

Pictures left to right: American Flag, cut up colored bead necklaces, 2 spinning tops that light up (these came 2 to a pack), Blue Plastic Scoop, shiny decorative filler (I do not recommend this stuff unless its the paper kind, lets just say, when picking up it is a HOT MESS it clings to everything) pinwheels (3 to a pack), star decorations, 2 blue scrub brushes (4 to a pack), Red ice cream bowl and spoon (2 to a pack :) ) Glow sticks (2 to a pack), Book light, and 2 tops for sippy cups I just threw in there because they were red and blue and odd shaped, and cool to touch. I spent $10 which I think rocks because I will be able to use all these things with other bins and school related stuff.